Mail-bag catcher



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C. B. WINSOR 8u G. W.. YGUMMI-NGS.

MAIL BAG GATGHBR No. 470,160. Patented Mar. 1, 1892.

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UNITED STATE-s PATENT OFFICE.

CLINTON B. WINSOR AND GEORGE lV. CUMMINGS, OF JAMESTOVN, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO LOREN B. SESSIONS, OF PANAMA, NEV YORK.

MAI L-BAG CATCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. l470,160, dated March 1, 1892.

Application ledJune 1, 1891. Serial No. 394,711. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, CLINTON B. .VINSOR and GEORGE W. CUMMINcs, of Jamestown, in the county of Chautauqua, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to mail-bag catchers as used upon postal cars.

Our object is to produce a catcher which is provided with a narrowed throat to receive the bag when caught and retain it, with means to close said throat after the bag has entered it, with means to detachably support the catcher when extended, with means by which the arm can be reversed without moving thecross-beam from its bearings across the doorway, and means to lock said arm to the beam.

Our invention consists in the several novel featuresof construction hereinafter described, and which are specifically set forth in the claims hereunto annexed. It is constructed as follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a top plan of the catcher mounted upon the door-jambs with the arm ex- 30 tended, said jambs being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional elevation of one end of the catcher-beam and its mounting upon a door-jamb, said beam being caught so as to support the arm extended. Fig. 3 is a top plan of the same parts shown in Fig. 2, showing the beam disengaged from thesupporting-catch. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of one end of the catcher with the arm extended and supported by the catch. Fig. 5 is a like view showing the beam disengaged from the catch and the arm hanging down beside the car. Fig. o' is a sectional elevation of the arm locking and shifting mechanism on a line transverse to the arm and beam. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the inner face of the cap. Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of the pivot of the arm detached, showing its outer face. Fig. 9 is an isometrical elevation of the same. Fig. 10 is a plan of the. arm shifter and lock, with the top cut off, on line x in Fig. 6, showing the internal construction and the manner in which the lip on the pivot engages with the shoulder in the cap.

A represents part of the floor of a car, and a avare the jambs of a doorway in the side thereof, upon which the bearings o b are secured, in which the beam c is mounted and adapted to slide. Rubber buffers and collars d are secured upon the beam, and d are the buffer-springs. Upon the side and adjacent 6o to each end of the beam we secure flat studs e. Upon the door-jainbs we secure the springcatches e', each provided with a notch e, and e" is an arm secured to the jamb, having a slot, in which t-he top of the spring rests and traverses. The beam c is round between the collars, except that near to each collar it is enlarged and squared, as at o', as shown in Fig. 6 in transverse section, and a vertical notch c, is cut in the rounded side.

B is the arm bent to form the elbow f, thence extending forward with substantially parallel sides, and then having one end bent outwardly, substantially as shown, and the other bent inwardly and having its extremity concaved to fit the convexity of the beam, and h is a spring-actuated bar or piece of sheet metal bent so as to partly embrace the inner part of the arm to which it is secured and having a spring (not shown) within its con- 8o cavity which operates to hold the bar diagonally across the space, substantially as shown in Fig. 1. A pivot-head m,havingaflatbase, is provided with a diametrical square-sided groove of proper size to receive the square S 5 ortion c of the beam cand havinga rounded body provided on one side with a lip mand having a circular shank secured onto the inner part of the arm. The baseof this pivot bears against the inner face of a block n, pro- 9o vided with a straight-sided round-bottom diametrical groove n', of proper size to receive the rounded part of the enlargement c and part of its squared portion. A cap rtits over the body of the pivot and screws onto the edge 9 5 of the block n, and it is provided on its inner face with shoulders r', with one of which the lip m' engages. A curved bolt s is inserted vertically through the shank of the block n, and its inner end 3' enters the notch c in the 10o beam andis released therefrom by pressing down thebolt,the spring returning it to its normal position. The handle t is secured to the block n.

The parts are shown in their proper relation in Fig. G, the bolt holding the catcherarm in posit-ion upon the beam and the squared portion of the beam prevents its turning thereon. Vhen the arm hangs down, as in Fig. 5, the stud is disengaged from the spring-latch; but when this arm is raised to extend the arm the stud engages with the spring and nally snaps into the notch in the spring and this holds the arm extended, and then when a bag is caught it enters into the jaw of the arm, forcing thespring-bardown until it has passed it, when this bar is thrown back across the jaw once more, closing it and preventing the bag from falling out. The concussion of the catching of the bag causes the beam to slide in its bearings, and this releases the studs e from the latches e', and thereupon the arm falls down beside the car. 'Vhen it is desired to shift the arm so as to catch from the other direction, We push down the bolt, slide the arm and pivot-joint oii from the squared part. of the beam onto the rounded part, then release the inner end from the beam, and turn the catcher around upon the pivot, bringing its lip 'm' into engagement with the othershonlder in the cap, bring the inner end into re-engagement with the beam, slide the joint-piece along onto the other squared portion of the beam and bring the bolt into engagement with the notch therein.

Vhat We claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A mail-bag catcher consisting of a beam mounted across the doorway, and a catcherarm pivotally connected thereto and bent to form a substantially parallel-sided jaw, and a spring-actuated bar pivoted to the catcherarm on one side of the jaw and normall3T engagin g With the other side of the jaw, thereby closing the jaw and adapted to be opened by the passage of the bag into the jaw and closingbehind it.

2. A cross-beam having enlarged squared and notched portions near the ends thereof, a catcher-arm having a handle portion slidably mounted on said beam, a bolt therein adapted to engage with the notch in the beam, a pivothead to the catcher-arm and adapted to en'- gage with the squared port-ion of the beam, said pivot-head provided with a lip, and a cap inclosing the pivot-head and having shoulders on its inner face adapted to engage with said lip, whereby said catcher-arm is held in operative position, substantially as described and set forth.

A mail-bag catcher comprising a beam, bearings therefor, buffer springs, springlatches secured to the door-jambs, studs upon the beam adapted to engage with said latches, and a catcher-arm secured to the beam, in combination.

-In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 27th day of May, 1891.

CLINTON B. VINSOR. GEORGE lV. CUMMINGS.

In presence oflVAnnEN CoUcI-I, E, F. DtoKtNsoN. 

